A 24 Hour Vigil for 24 People Killed by SFPD With No Charges During D.A. Gascón’s Time in Office. WED. April 25, 6PM to THU. April 26, 6PM

A 24 Hour Vigil for 24 People Killed by SFPD With No Charges During D.A. Gascón’s Time in Office

WHEN: Wednesday April 25, 6pm to April 26, 6pm (24HOUR VIGIL)

WHERE: Hall of (In)Justice 850 Bryant

WHAT:

Kick-off a 24 hour community vigil for the 24 people killed by police with absolute impunity, since 2011, when D.A. Gascón took office

The 24 hour vigil will officially start at 6pm on Wednesday April 25, and end 6pm on Thursday April 26

THIS IS A DRY EVENT. THIS IS A VIGIL at which we will commemorate and celebrate the lives of those lost to police violence, as well as rejuvenate our capacity to love and respect each other as we resist injustice.

FOR WHO:

People and families hurt by police

Communities hurt by police

Their allies and supporters

WHY: The vigil will draw out the legacy of police brutality in San Francisco that disproportionately impacts people of color, and which is perpetuated decade after decade by impunity; that is the lack of significant legal consequences for killings committed by SFPD officers, ever.

Altar items are welcome! (e.g. Photos, flowers)

I WANT TO HELP! Great! Write justice4luis at gmail.com or talk to the person designated as logistics coordinator at the vigil. If you want to participate, there are certain blocks of time already taken up in the 24 hour cycle, but other blocks of time are available. We’ll let you know what’s possible. However, please be patient. Volunteers will be doing their best.

A 24 Hour Vigil for 24 People Killed by SFPD With No Charges During D.A. Gascón’s Time in Office

“The 24 Hour Vigil for 24 People Killed by SFPD With No Charges During D.A. Gascón’s Time in Office” (or #24HoursFor24Lives) will start at 6pm on Wed. April 25th and end 6pm Thu. April 26th. The vigil will draw out the legacy of police brutality in San Francisco that disproportionately impacts people of color, and which is perpetuated decade after decade by impunity; that is the lack of significant legal consequences for killings committed by SFPD officers, ever.

Of those 24 killed since 2011, whose race we know, 63% were people of color. The killings happened in the context of SFPD’s scandals of corruption; racist, homophobic, misogynist and bigoted texts; and violence against the extremely poor and black and brown of the City, in the past recent years.

The 24 killings have involved at least 58 officers firing over 300 rounds of ammunition, resulting in 0 charges against cops who kill. Despite protest, despite ousting the Chief of Police Greg Suhr, the killings continue because of the lack of consequences. D.A. Gascón has not once moved to charge a killer cop. We are calling him out on his record.

In 2016, the SF Board of Supervisors approved a $1.5 million dollar budget for D.A. Gascon to create a special bureau for investigating police criminal misconduct including homicides. The D.A.’s bureau has dismissed the backlog of SFPD killing cases since 2011, without charges. Of fatal OIS cases from 2011 to 2016 only the homicides of Luis Góngora’s and Mario Wood’s are pending a charging decision from Gascón. There are new accumulating fatal OIS cases from 2017 and 2018, including Kaita O’Neil and Adolfo Delgado that now need to be resolved.

Again, the 24 hour vigil will officially start at 6pm on Wednesday April 25, and end 6pm on Thursday April 26, with bookend press conferences at 5pm each day.

Please note that just prior the Family of Luis Góngora Pat will have a press conference at 5pm to end their 15-day countdown to keep Gascón to his self-imposed deadline for a charging decision, and you are very welcome to attend! Tomorrow would have been Luis Góngora Pat’s 48th birthday. Help us sing Las Mañanitas and Happy Birthday!

Ask any Mexican, any Puerto Rican, any black man, any poor person – ask the wretched how they fare in the halls of justice, and then you will know, not whether or not the country is just, but whether or not it has any love for justice, or any concept of it. It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.